the misadventures of someone who prolly STILL shouldn't be allowed to raise children...

Monday, August 20, 2007

two hits

Before even making it to the 2.5 year mark, my charming big boy got into his first fight at school.

“Bebets,” the nanny, picked him up and related the story to me as follows:

The teacher indicated that she needed to speak with Bebets about an incident that occurred earlier. Her initial reaction (which would also have been my reaction) was "Crap, what did he do now…" Don’t get me wrong, it is not that he is a problem child, but he can be a little rambunctious and well, challenging. Anyway…

Bebets: "What did he do?" Teacher: "Um, he didn't do anything, exactly… there was an incident with another kid. Le*stat bit him."

Bebets: "What?! Someone BIT him? Did he break the skin?" Teacher: "No, the skin wasn't broken, but Le*stat bit him hard." Bebets: "So, what did Bean do to start it?" (again, we are so ready to accept that Bean had some active role in starting this incident.)

Teacher: "Um, actually he didn't start it, but he certainly was prepared to END it…"

Totally unprovoked this kid Le*stat (who I have since learned has a history of biting and is current on his rabies shots) bit Bean's belly, right below the rib cage (who the hell bites people there, but anyway). It must have been hard because even a few mornings later, you could still see the outline of the kid's teeth on Bean's tummy. Bean was PISSED. He didn’t cry, he didn’t scream or whine…no my kid resorted immediately to physical violence. He bum rushed the kid, knocked him to the ground and took a swing at his head.

The teacher quickly stepped in and separated them putting Le*stat on one side of the room and Bean on the other. She spoke to Bean explaining that while it was clear that Le*stat bit him, AND that she was sure that it hurt AND that Le*stat had done a very bad thing… we simply do not hit (and don’t worry, I also reinforced that message at home later that evening). She asked them both to sit quietly for 2 minutes. Both children obliged.

When the two minutes was up and the teacher released them from their chairs… Bean got up and WENT AFTER THIS KID AGAIN. Now, I have seen this kid.He is bigger and older and have I mentioned, fucking BITES with a PSI of at least a pit bull. When the teacher scolded him, he pointed to his belly and loudly proclaimed "OWIE" and pointed at Le*stat. His teacher asked if he needed a kiss, he replied "Si!" (you know, because he can not respond in English, but that is another issue altogether), took his kiss and went about his merry way. Not another issue between the two of them for the rest of the morning.

So, I take from this two things:

ONE: My kid is a badass. He was not going to let some kid bite him and run. While I certainly do not condone violence… any concerns I had previously about my kid getting bullied. GONE!

TWO: He continues to be a sucker for a pretty girl. One little kiss and he completely forgets that he was about to fuck that kid UP!

It has just occured to me that perhaps PRIDE is the wrong reaction here. Oh well. Just chalk it up to another reason I am maybe not the best parenting role model out there.

(Obviously, although fitting, this is not the kid’s real name. Perhaps I should suggest the change to his parents.You know, since they can’t control the biting, the ought to just accept it. And, it would give everyone else fair warning, at least.)